A.I.: Orphans of Terra (HTTYD)

23

Chapter 23

---------Flashback----------
Location: Several kilometers outside of Arcadia

A lone, crudely armored, vehicle was making its way through the wasteland. Its two occupants had bound cloth around their faces to protect themselves from the unforgiving sun as well as the sand that was being blown about by the wind and the vehicle.

"I can't understand why I still have scouting duty." The driver grumbled.

"Hmmmm, let's see......" The person in the passenger's seat muttered while pulling down their cloth to reveal a woman's face. "We are currently in a high tech and top secret base that has more supplies than we know what to do with. I can see how we aren't an attractive target." She quipped.

"Ellie you should stick to what you're good at." The man muttered as their vehicle went through several uneven sections. "It ain't sass."

"Mildew you should stick to what you're good at." Ellie retorted with a huff. "It ain't driving."

---------Interruption of Flashback-------

"Woah Woah Woah!" Hiccup stopped the story and looked at Gustav's mother like she had grown a second head. "You had scouting duties with Mildew and he allowed this?!" He asked as he couldn't wrap his head around it. There should have been no way that cranky-by-the-book Mildew would even entertain the idea of bringing a stranger into Berkian territory.

"I persuaded him to look the other way." Ellie said way too casually and Toothless who was laying on the bed actually snorted.

"Hush you!" She muttered. "Now where were we........"

--------Flashback continues--------

The retrofitted car they were driving in shook as Mildew revved the engine. A large dust cloud trailed behind them as they continued on their scouting mission.

"Stop here." Ellie said as she held up a bulky device. "We should be near Arcadia's defense perimeter now."

The car stopped and the dust slowly settled as the two scouts got out. Their route had taken them close by the river and Ellie reached into the back of the car to pick up a rifle. She tossed it at Mildew and took the second one.

"I'll go along the river." Ellie said. "You can take the high ground."

"Sure..... Make an old man like me climb." Mildew griped but went the other way.

Ellie made her way along the right bank of the river. So far there were no signs of any raiders or other nomadic tribes. She wondered how many settlements actually were left. Some settlements banded together, others were warier of taking in new people, and some simply starved in the wastelands due to food shortages and sickness. Ellie stopped as she suddenly heard a crunch. It sounded like footsteps. The sound appeared again and the woman quickly ducked down low and hid behind a medium-sized boulder that the river must have swept along.

Her hands gripped the rifle as she peered around the boulder. There was a figure stumbling, or rather limping, towards the water. She fumbled but managed to get her radio out. "Mildew, I might have a lone scout in sight. I haven't been spotted yet. Going to observe." The radio gave a crackle and Ellie knew that Mildew wouldn't respond in case it alerted people to her position.

Ellie was peering at the now hunched over figure again and saw that they had dunked their head into the water. She grimaced as she knew the water wasn't very drinkable unless purified. They must have been truly desperate.

While Ellie was spying she hadn't noticed a very large and very hungry cat creep towards her from above the river bank. The puma looked starved, ribs clearly visible as it crept closer to its prey. From above it peered at the young woman and licked its lips before finally pouncing.

Ellie let out a scream as she was pounced upon. The big cat was swiping at her as she used her rifle to stop the beast's maw from ripping off part of her neck. The cat though starved was still a strong opponent and pinned her down. As Ellie was trying to prevent herself from becoming cat chow her ears managed to pick up a familiar sound. The telltale whistle of The Nightfury. A purple blast hit the puma's rear leg and it howled in pain.

The large cat limped but got off of Ellie as it hissed and snarled at her saviour, the very man she had been observing. Ellie had no time to react as the angry cat lunged at the man as he got closer. She heard a shout of pain and saw that the cat had used its paws to claw at the side of her rescuer.

She readied her rifle and took aim but hesitated as the scuffle was making things chaotic. If she didn't aim right she could end up killing the man instead of the cat and then she'd probably be eaten next. Suddenly a gunshot pierced the air and hit the puma in the head. Ellie looked up and saw Mildew crouched above where the animal had jumped off from. The old man lowered his rifle as Ellie went to check up on her rescuer. She managed to push the big cat off of him and then took a look at his wounds before looking up at Mildew.

"Oh no......" Mildew could be heard groaning. "Ellie, whatever you're thinking, no."

---------- End flashback-----------

Hiccup had taken a seat on the closest bed and Gustav had plopped himself right on his lap even though there was plenty of room left to sit. The young boy had no boundaries and was just listening to his mother retell the story.

"So then I got Mildew to help me drag Mr. Big-Scary-Dragon over there to the car. We covered him with the tarp and smuggled him in." Ellie explained.

"She did contact me when they arrived and relayed the situation to me before swearing me to secrecy." Astrid chipped in.

"And Mildew isn't blabbing to dad because........" Hiccup was curious and took in the smirk on Ellie's face.

"I was very persuasive." Ellie grinned. "I just made it known that I have access to very sharp instruments and if Mildew didn't want to lose his family jewels he should just cooperate."

Hiccup shuddered and mentally told himself never to get on this woman's bad side. "I might have also added a threat of tasing if he snitched." Astrid added and Hiccup had no doubt that she had enjoyed that.

"So that was that. All we had to do then was get Toothless over there up to the Infirmary without anyone seeing and then treating his injuries." Ellie stated. "Most of which were actually not from the cat."

She then turned to Toothless and asked "How did you get those anyways?"

Toothless actually blushed and tried to hide it. He mumbled something under his breath and then sighed as all eyes were still trained on him. "Some maniac let lose a flash bomb during the last raid that made me lose my footing." He finally confessed. "Stumbled backwards, fell down a hole in a building, sprained leg and when I came to my friends were gone." Toothless seemed embarrassed about something else. "I couldn't remember which way to go and got lost." he told the group sheepishly.

Now it was Hiccup's turn to look slightly embarrassed. He let out a cough and muttered "Yeah, uhm....... That might be my fault."

"How so?" Toothless asked with a raised brow.

"Uhm......... I'm the maniac that threw those flash grenades." Hiccup confessed.

AN: Next update will be Saturday. XD